Who was the first Black man to graduate from the University of Akron?
The answer to this and other questions will be part of a new history of Akron curriculum that Akron Public Schools is preparing to roll out for teachers and students in the coming months — just in time for the city to celebrate its bicentennial anniversary.
The curriculum, which will be available this year for classrooms, focuses on the history of Akron’s marginalized citizens — people and experiences largely excluded from Akron’s history literature of the past.
“There’s a growing understanding in social studies education and history education that the most important connection for a student is their connection to local history,” said Adam Motter, the district’s social studies learning specialist.
Dave Lieberth, the Akron Bicentennial Commission’s executive secretary, wants young students to see themselves in the city’s history and, hopefully, be inspired. The lessons will do this by focusing on achievements of women and people of color in Akron.
Currently, Motter said, there are touchpoints in third, fourth, and eighth grades that incorporate some of Akron’s history into larger lesson plans. The new curriculum, though, will expand.
Former Akron deputy mayor: ‘Black students need to know their history’
Lieberth hopes students develop a more critical knowledge of the city’s struggles and successes. For example, Emmer Lancaster was the first Black man to graduate from the University of Akron in 1921. The lawyer was later appointed as a member of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “Black cabinet,” an unofficial group of Black advisors.
Students will also learn about some of the more radical political history of Akron, like abolitionists Sojourner Truth and John Brown, who had ties to the city.
“It’s important from the standpoint that Black students need to know their history, their separate history as Black Americans living in Akron,” said Lieberth, a former Akron deputy mayor now leading the creation of the Akron History Center.
“And it’s important for the white students to realize that Akron was a segregated city for most of its life.”
As Akron goes, so goes the nation
While Akron’s national relevance has faded in recent decades, like many cities across the so-called Rust Belt, it was at one point a center of innovation and industry.
“The top priority is,” Motter said, “we want all of our students to walk away from Akron Public Schools knowing our history, knowing the trials and tribulations of our community.”
Motter said the curriculum is nearing completion, and it will rely heavily on digitized assets. Teachers will have access to course materials beyond the city’s bicentennial year.
Lieberth is eager for students to learn the city’s struggles and successes, from civil rights to rubber. Doing so, he believes, lends credibility to the notion that Akron’s many institutions are important.
“People can learn that this [city] isn’t a dead end,” he said. “This is only kind of the start of your journey, and you can be inspired.”
